Federica’s defense, Opera as intercultural communication device

Federica has conducted an internship at the Fondazione Arena di Verona (Verona, Italy http://www.arena.it/), and participated in the organization of various Opera shows. Her thesis was inspired by this experience and her passion for Opera. The research hypothesis was that Opera can act as an intercultural communication device, as it manages to transmit meaning irrespective of language barriers, through elements that go from scenography, to costumes, characters mimicry, and nonverbal communication. The core of the research is a case-study on La Traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi. The choice of this particular opera show is motivated first by the special place La Traviata holds in the Grand Opera history “Verdi created a new construction-deconstruction of the traditional scenes: not only in the story told, but also in the musical solutions, chosen in order to present a truthful passage without rhetorical artifice and in theatrical real-time. Traviata revolutionized the history of opera and quickly became one of the masterpieces of Verdi’s popular trilogy (Trovatore, Rigoletto, Traviata), certainly the most modern and relevant.” (quote from Federica's thesis). La Traviata has caused bewilderement and even fury or rejection in its audiences, along its historical representations from 1800 onwards. This has resulted also in a richness of visionary representations of the play from various directors who have put forward their own interpretation in its staging.
Federica's analysis took into consideration various representations of the play, from the ones adapted to modern and contemporary times, to those faithful to the original version by Verdi; the focus was on the production of La Traviata staged at Arena di Verona in 2004 and directed by Graham Vick.
Click here for a selection of pictures from Fede’s defense